Midnight Musings
by Twin-Lupus
Summary: Beast Boy experiences a really strange dream concerning a certain dark girl. He can't help shake the feeling that there's something more to it. But it was only a dream… wasn't it? [BBxR, slight RxS, oneshot] [FG]


Author's Notes: I don't know where this idea came from. Honestly. The end is a lot like something that happened in "Minority Report," if you've ever seen that. It's a good movie, but this has nothing to do with it, hehe; just a sort of concept. Anyway, this is a one-shot, BB/R to tell everyone beforehand. If that's not something you're interested in, go ahead and click the back button. But if you like BB/R, then please stay! Anyway, I've wasted enough time here, let's get on with the story!

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**Midnight Musings**

Raven sighed contentedly as she leaned deeper into Beast Boy's arms. She reached back and lazily caressed his upper arm. The green Titan bent forward to put his head on top of hers.

They were lying in the grass at the park. The other Titans flitted back and forth between them and the table they had laden with food, but in the dusky light, it was hard to distinguish faces and movements. The others were just blurs to the happy couple, completely enthralled in their own world.

"The stars are so bright tonight," murmured Raven. Beast Boy glanced up.

"Yeah, they're really pretty… but not as pretty as you."

Raven swatted his arm playfully. "You're so full of it."

"I am not!" Beast Boy protested. He tightened his grip on Raven. "Why would I lie about something like that?"

Raven was silent, but through the dim light, Beast Boy could see her smiling. "The fireworks should be starting soon," she finally whispered.

"Don't change the-" Beast Boy began, but at that moment, a bright red light filled the sky as the first firework went off. He let it drop, and settled down into a comfortable position. He was vaguely aware of the others sitting nearby, but he didn't turn to look at them; he was fine just where he was.

Brilliant lights lit up the night sky, crackling and glittering for the viewers down below. There were many people in the park with the Titans, but they were merely shadows flitting in the background, swallowed by the dazzle of the lights above. The vivid colors seared into their eyes as Beast Boy and Raven watched the show.

The fireworks continued for a while until there came a pause. "Must be getting ready for the finale," Beast Boy remarked.

"Mmm," answered Raven. She sat up a little taller and stretched her arms.

"Wanna make our own fireworks?" Beast Boy whispered slyly in her ear. She stopped in mid-stretch, then turned to face him, a smirk plastered on her face.

"And what is _that_ supposed to mean?" she asked, cocking her head slightly. Beast Boy merely grinned.

"Whatever you want it to."

Raven turned on her knees until she was facing her green teammate. As soon as she was facing him completely, the finale began, and dozens of lights went off behind her head, throwing a colorful glow on her face and hair. She smiled and leaned in-

BEEP!

Beast Boy sat straight up, then smacked himself on the top bunk. Nursing the wound on his head, he looked around.

He was in his own room, on his own bed. It was early in the morning. The sun was peeking in through the window and nearly blinding him. On the bedside table next to him, his alarm clock was going off. Robin had forced him to set it early for a new combat practice routine.

"Argh!" Beast Boy cried, slamming his fist down on the annoying object. The alarm stopped, and Beast Boy lay back down, pulling the covers over his head. He tried to recapture the dream, but it was gone. It had stopped short.

"Aw, man…" Beast Boy mumbled.

'Why do I care?' he asked himself, folding his arms behind his head. 'What does it matter to me?' The truth seemed to stare back at him. 'I guess… I kinda want that dream to be a reality.'

'But why?' he thought, flipping over. 'When did that happen?' This time, however, no answer came to him mysteriously. He shrugged it off, not concerned. He would worry about that later; it didn't really matter when he started feeling that way, it only mattered what he did about it.

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'That was so freaky,' Beast Boy thought as he ambled to the main room for some breakfast. What had occurred during his dream kept replaying in his head, but it never got past where the alarm clock had interrupted.

Beast Boy was used to strange late night visions, often the result of too much tofu during the day. He had nightmares at times about his past, things he would never want to relive. He would jolt awake to find himself in a cold sweat, panting for air. But these dreams were like sand, trickling through his fingers before he could get a good idea of what they were. He had been able to dismiss these as merely dreams, and leave it at that. He wouldn't worry too much about them; they were just nightmares.

But this dream was different. Beast Boy knew the tried-and-true method of pinching oneself during a dream. He knew if it hurt, you were unfortunately awake. If it didn't, it was a dream. But he had been able to feel the grass underneath him, he had been able to feel the breeze ruffling his hair, he had even been able to feel Raven in his arms. He had felt his chin tickled by the soft sensation of her hair brushing up against him, he had felt the heat of her body pressed to his. Following the known test, it should have meant that it was real.

But it wasn't. He was in the Tower, walking through the halls.

'Then what was it?' he thought, frowning slightly. Beast Boy couldn't shake the feeling of something more within that dream. But how could he find out?

As he walked in, he sensed disaster before he even knew what was going on. But some inner animal instinct alerted him that he should run, as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, alien girls are quicker than instincts.

"Beast Boy!" cried Starfire, zooming over to her green friend. She held a large plate in her hands, and it was covered by a brown, sticky substance. It reminded Beast Boy of her disgusting Pudding of Sadness, so he immediately put his guard up.

"Um… Star? What is this stuff?"

"A traditional Tameranian dish! I'm sure you will enjoy it greatly!" she answered happily, shoving the plate in his face. Beast Boy glanced over her shoulder. He saw Robin huddled on a chair, holding his stomach and looking almost as green in the face as Beast Boy was himself. Robin slowly turned his gaze up and saw Beast Boy's predicament. He shook his head violently, indicating 'no,' but stopped. Robin grabbed his stomach and groaned.

Beast Boy's stomach flip-flopped as he noticed Raven sitting on the couch, reading nonchalantly.

"Actually, Starfire, I'm not that hungry. Maybe I'll try some later, how's that?" Beast Boy said tactfully. Starfire grinned and nodded.

"It shall be in the fridge when you are ready to consume it!" she said happily. She flew over to the appliance and opened the door, placing the food inside. She reached down to grab something on the counter. "I shall show you the recipe! This creation is a special…oh no."

Starfire held the card up to her face. It appeared to have weird writing on it in a language that Beast Boy couldn't understand. Starfire cringed and looked up at Robin.

"I think I made the wrong recipe," she murmured, her happy attitude gone. A faint blush crept up her face. "Robin, I think it is time we get you to bed."

Robin tried to say something but his words became slurred and incomprehensible. Starfire pulled his arm over her shoulder. "Come now Robin, we are putting you to bed now."

Robin grinned a loopy grin. "Sounds good, sweet thing."

Starfire's face turned a bright red. "I think I created the Tameranian love potion," she explained to Beast Boy. She continued to help the staggering Boy Wonder towards the door, Robin continuing to whisper inappropriate comments in Starfire's ear.

Beast Boy's eyes were wide as he watched the two of them exit the room. He winced, wishing Starfire the best of luck and hoping that Robin wouldn't say something _too_ embarrassing.

Beast Boy sighed, his thoughts back on the dream. He wanted to know what it meant; he needed to know what it meant. He could only think of one person who could discern the meaning of a dream, so he would have to ask her, as awkward as it might be.

He cleared his throat. Raven didn't even blink. "What?" she demanded.

"Hey Raven," Beast Boy called. "Can I ask you about a dream I had?"

Raven seemed to freeze for a fraction of a second. Then, "What dream is this?"

"I don't know," Beast Boy said evasively. "Can a dream… mean anything specific?"

Raven set her book down in her lap, looking thoughtful. "Some people have premonitions in their dreams. They see future events and can act on them. Most times, however, the vision they have is only one of the infinite possibilities for the future. If you had a dream like that, you would see one path the future can take. But just because you saw that future doesn't mean it will actually occur."

Beast Boy thought for a moment. He shook his head. "I don't think that was quite it."

"What makes you so sure?"

"It was… I don't know how to describe it," he said, again avoiding the topic exactly. Raven frowned, but continued.

"Well, dreams are usually bits and pieces of what you think about during the day, only warped and changed to fit 'dream reality.' If you are afraid of something, it might appear in the dream. If you think about something a lot, it might appear in the dream."

"So Robin probably had a dream about Slade?"

"I know he did. He asked me a while ago to fix him a sleeping draught to help him have a dreamless night. There was nothing dangerous about it or anything, it just keeps your mind clear until you wake up in the morning. But I don't recommend it for long periods of time; Robin hasn't used it in a while. He only needed it when things were really bad."

"What would happen if you used it for a long time?" Beast Boy queried. Raven shrugged.

"Your memory would probably suffer a bit. It basically just prevents the thoughts from reaching the semi-conscious part of your brain during sleep, but if you prolong usage, it prevents the thoughts from reaching your brain at all."

"That doesn't sound good," Beast Boy said, laughing sheepishly. Raven stood up, taking a hold of her book.

"No, it isn't. Which is why I'm not letting you have any."

"Who said I needed any?" Beast Boy demanded.

"Why else would you ask?" snapped Raven, hands on her hips, making the book fall open.

"Hey, I was just curious! I'm not plagued by evil nightmares or anything," Beast Boy said. Then he smiled. "So you're worried about me, and that's why you won't give me any of that stuff?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "No. Your brain is already too messed up to play around with any more."

Beast Boy rolled his own eyes. "Yeah, right." Raven opened her mouth to say something indignantly, but Beast Boy held up his hands. "OK, OK, never mind. So what other dreams are there?"

Raven crossed her arms, hanging onto the book by a finger, still keeping her place. "Well, some people have been known to have dreams about the past. Some even imagine alternate routes that they could have taken. These can manipulate your feelings a lot, so you have to be careful of them."

"How can they do that?"

"Imagine reliving a certain memory of yours, over and over. Say it's a bad memory. What if you kept dreaming that you escaped the bad occasion, only to wake up and remember it didn't happen that way?"

Beast Boy frowned. "Yeah, that does make sense."

Raven walked forward slightly. "I have dreams like that," she whispered. "They're not fun. Don't make the mistake of thinking it's enjoyable to relive your past."

"I know," Beast Boy said sympathetically. "It's not fair to you to have to endure nightmares all the time."

"Life's not fair," the dark girl murmured. "You just have to deal with it."

"It doesn't matter," Beast Boy said, walking forward, closing the gap even more. "You have to keep so much inside, weather so many internal storms… how can that even be? It's so wrong."

Raven was taken aback at his thoughtfulness. She quickly recovered, however, and said, "So why did you ask about dreams?"

Beast Boy gulped. He knew what he said next could mean his death if he didn't phrase it correctly.

"Well…" he started, trailing off. His gaze turned to floor. Raven raised an eyebrow, prompting him. "Um…"

"Get on with it," Raven ordered. Beast Boy wrenched his sight up from the ground and stared at Raven in the eye. She met his gaze, curiosity and defiance in her eyes. She asked him silently for the answer. Beast Boy knew he had no choice but to give it.

"Well… I kind of had this dream last night… about you and me." Raven's eyes grew wide. "It felt so real… I could see and hear you so clearly. It was so vivid. I could… feel you there. It was literally like you were there with me-"

"What?!" Raven cried indignantly. "You had a dream about the two of us? Doing what?"

Beast Boy put a hand behind his head. "Well, we hadn't _done_ anything… yet…"

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?" she asked angrily. Beast Boy was startled at the exact echo of her words in the dream, but quickly recovered.

"Well, I kind of asked you… never mind."

Raven whirled around, her face in her hands. "I don't believe this," she said to her palms. "I just don't believe it."

"Raven…" Beast Boy tried, but couldn't find the words.

He took another approach instead. "Why was it so real? Why was it like we were really there together?"

Raven turned slowly to watch the green Titan over her shoulder. "Well, there are certain times when two people have similar… desires. If they both happen to think about it at the same time, they may be connected telepathically for a short time. Using their own brain waves, they'll fool their own senses into believing they really are there. Since their minds are aligned, their bodies almost are. It's not a very common occurrence, so when it happens, it's looked upon as a very… special sort of thing."

Beast Boy blinked. "So you're saying… we both wanted that, so we both thought it was really happening?"

Raven pivoted. "No! I want no such thing! Where would you come up with that? I certainly never had a dream about the two of us in a park!"

She attempted to storm by him, brushing his shoulder with her own, but she found she could not. There was a strong grip on her arm, holding her right next to Beast Boy, side to side. He looked down at his feet, but his eyes had a distinct sparkle in them. "I never said we were in the park," he said thoughtfully.

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Author's Notes: Well, that was a little short, but I didn't want it to drone on. I hope you all enjoyed it, please review!


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